VOLUME NO 7 ISSUE NO 09 (S EPTEMBER ISSN 2231-5756

VOLUME NO. 7 (2017), ISSUE NO. 09 (SEPTEMBER) ISSN 2231-5756

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN COMMERCE, IT & MANAGEMENT A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed (Refereed/Juried) Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories


ii

CONTENTS

Sr. No.

TITLE & NAME OF THE AUTHOR (S) Page No.

1. HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME (AAWAZ) FOR DOMESTIC MIGRANT LABOURERS IN KERALA OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES UMA.K & Dr. E. K. SATHEESH

1

2. FINANCIAL LITERACY: A STEP FORWARD TOWARDS SUCCESS V.VIJAYA & Dr. V.MANICKAVASAGAM

4

3. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES: A CASE OF PUNJAB Dr. JASDEEP KAUR DHAMI, Dr. MANISH GUPTA & SANGRAM SINGH

8

4. EQUIPPING EVERY LEARNER FOR 21ST CENTURY Dr. AMARDEEP KAUR

13

5. A STUDY ON THE PROMOTION AND REWARD POLICY WITH REFERENCE TO RELIANCE DYEING WORKS TIRUPUR Dr. S. KALAIYARASI

15

6. A STATISTICAL STUDY ON CUSTOMERS LOYALTY OF MOBILE PHONE SERVICES LENIN JOHN & Dr. D. RANJITHAM

20

7. A STUDY ON CONSUMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS IN COIMBATORE CITY S. AMUDHA & Dr. M. KANAGARATHINAM

24

8. FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMER LOYALTY: A STUDY ON ORGANISED FOOD & GROCERY OUTLETS Dr. D. PADMA & A. SHANTHI

27

9. DYNAMIC CONGESTION CONTROL IN NETWORK LAYER FOR ADVANCED CLOUD COMPUTING G. RAMASUBBAREDDY, K. RANGASWAMY & Dr. C. RAJABHUSANAM

33

10. ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN VARIOUS BUSINESS SECTORS IN TAMILNADU Dr. G. YOGANANDAN & T. VIGNESH

36

11. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TELECOM SECTOR IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW Dr. N. VIJAYAKUMAR

40

12. FUTURE CLOSING PRICE, TRADING VOLUME AND OPEN INTEREST: EVIDENCE FROM STOCK FUTURES & INDEX FUTURES OF NIFTY 50 ON NSE IN INDIA KERKAR PUJA PARESH & Dr. P. SRI RAM

45

13. FUTURE TRACK OF STRATEGIC GROWTH OF M-COMMERCE MARKET IN GLOBAL SCENARIO Dr. VAIBHAV SHARMA

55

14. AN ANALYSIS OF CSR SPENDING IN INDIAN COMPANIES NEHA PUSHPAK

58

15. REMITTANCES AND HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT SULTANA B. A. MAZUMDER

62

16. THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS IS DIGITAL MARKETING: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY BAJRANG LAL & Dr. AJMER SINGH

67

17. AN ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING BY ZIMBABWEAN MEDICAL LABORATORIES IN HARARE CHEZA ALEXANDER, MATAMANDE WILSON & KAPESA TONDERAI

74

18. GROWTH AND PROGRESS OF HANDLOOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA - A STUDY VINAY KUMAR BOLLOJU & A. SREENIVAS

79

19. GENDER INCLUSIVITY IN IT-BPM SECTOR SUMI.KV

81

20. E-COMMERCE IN INDIAN CONTEXT: A SWOT ANALYSIS SALIM KHAN

85

REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK & DISCLAIMER 88




iii

CHIEF PATRON Prof. (Dr.) K. K. AGGARWAL

Chairman, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur

(An institute of National Importance & fully funded by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India)

Chancellor, K. R. Mangalam University, Gurgaon

Chancellor, Lingaya’s University, Faridabad

Founder Vice-Chancellor (1998-2008), Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi

Ex. Pro Vice-Chancellor, Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar

FOUNDER PATRON Late Sh. RAM BHAJAN AGGARWAL

Former State Minister for Home & Tourism, Government of Haryana

Former Vice-President, Dadri Education Society, Charkhi Dadri

Former President, Chinar Syntex Ltd. (Textile Mills), Bhiwani

FORMER CO-ORDINATOR Dr. S. GARG

Faculty, Shree Ram Institute of Business & Management, Urjani

ADVISOR Prof. S. L. MAHANDRU

Principal (Retd.), Maharaja Agrasen College, Jagadhri

EDITOR Dr. R. K. SHARMA

Professor & Dean, Bharti Vidyapeeth University Institute of Management & Research, New Delhi

CO-EDITOR Dr. BHAVET

Faculty, Shree Ram Institute of Engineering & Technology, Urjani

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Dr. S. P. TIWARI

Head, Department of Economics & Rural Development, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad

Dr. CHRISTIAN EHIOBUCHE Professor of Global Business/Management, Larry L Luing School of Business, Berkeley College, USA

Dr. SIKANDER KUMAR Chairman, Department of Economics, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

Dr. JOSÉ G. VARGAS-HERNÁNDEZ

Research Professor, University Center for Economic & Managerial Sciences, University of Guadalajara, Guadala-

jara, Mexico

Dr. M. N. SHARMA Chairman, M.B.A., Haryana College of Technology & Management, Kaithal

Dr. TEGUH WIDODO

Dean, Faculty of Applied Science, Telkom University, Bandung Technoplex, Jl. Telekomunikasi, Indonesia

Dr. M. S. SENAM RAJU Professor, School of Management Studies, I.G.N.O.U., New Delhi

Dr. D. S. CHAUBEY Professor & Dean, Research & Studies, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun

Dr. CLIFFORD OBIYO OFURUM

Professor of Accounting & Finance, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Dr. KAUP MOHAMED

Dean & Managing Director, London American City College/ICBEST, United Arab Emirates




iv

SUNIL KUMAR KARWASRA

Principal, Aakash College of Education, ChanderKalan, Tohana, Fatehabad

Dr. MIKE AMUHAYA IRAVO

Principal, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Tech., Westlands Campus, Nairobi-Kenya

Dr. SYED TABASSUM SULTANA

Principal, Matrusri Institute of Post Graduate Studies, Hyderabad

Dr. BOYINA RUPINI Director, School of ITS, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

Dr. NEPOMUCENO TIU

Chief Librarian & Professor, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Laguna, Philippines

Dr. SANJIV MITTAL Professor & Dean, University School of Management Studies, GGS Indraprastha University, Delhi

Dr. ANA ŠTAMBUK

Head of Department of Statistics, Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia

Dr. RAJENDER GUPTA Convener, Board of Studies in Economics, University of Jammu, Jammu

Dr. SHIB SHANKAR ROY

Professor, Department of Marketing, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Dr. ANIL K. SAINI Professor, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi

Dr. SRINIVAS MADISHETTI Professor, School of Business, Mzumbe University, Tanzania

Dr. NAWAB ALI KHAN Professor & Dean, Faculty of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P.

MUDENDA COLLINS

Head, Operations & Supply Chain, School of Business, The Copperbelt University, Zambia

Dr. EGWAKHE A. JOHNSON

Professor & Director, Babcock Centre for Executive Development, Babcock University, Nigeria

Dr. A. SURYANARAYANA Professor, Department of Business Management, Osmania University, Hyderabad

P. SARVAHARANA Assistant Registrar, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras

Dr. MURAT DARÇIN

Associate Dean, Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy, Ankara, Turkey

Dr. ABHAY BANSAL Head, Department of Information Technology, Amity School of Engg. & Tech., Amity University, Noida

Dr. YOUNOS VAKIL ALROAIA

Head of International Center, DOS in Management, Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran

WILLIAM NKOMO

Asst. Head of the Department, Faculty of Computing, Botho University, Francistown, Botswana

Dr. JAYASHREE SHANTARAM PATIL (DAKE) Faculty in Economics, KPB Hinduja College of Commerce, Mumbai

SHASHI KHURANA

Associate Professor, S. M. S. Khalsa Lubana Girls College, Barara, Ambala

Dr. SEOW TA WEEA

Associate Professor, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja, Malaysia

Dr. OKAN VELI ŞAFAKLI Associate Professor, European University of Lefke, Lefke, Cyprus

Dr. MOHENDER KUMAR GUPTA Associate Professor, Government College, Hodal

Dr. BORIS MILOVIC

Associate Professor, Faculty of Sport, Union Nikola Tesla University, Belgrade, Serbia




v

Dr. LALIT KUMAR Faculty, Haryana Institute of Public Administration, Gurugram

Dr. MOHAMMAD TALHA

Associate Professor, Department of Accounting & MIS, College of Industrial Management, King Fahd University

of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Dr. V. SELVAM Associate Professor, SSL, VIT University, Vellore

Dr. IQBAL THONSE HAWALDAR

Associate Professor, College of Business Administration, Kingdom University, Bahrain

Dr. PARDEEP AHLAWAT Associate Professor, Institute of Management Studies & Research, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak

Dr. ALEXANDER MOSESOV

Associate Professor, Kazakh-British Technical University (KBTU), Almaty, Kazakhstan

Dr. ASHOK KUMAR CHAUHAN Reader, Department of Economics, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra

YU-BING WANG

Faculty, department of Marketing, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan

SURJEET SINGH Faculty, Department of Computer Science, G. M. N. (P.G.) College, Ambala Cantt.

Dr. MELAKE TEWOLDE TECLEGHIORGIS

Faculty, College of Business & Economics, Department of Economics, Asmara, Eritrea

Dr. RAJESH MODI Faculty, Yanbu Industrial College, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Dr. SAMBHAVNA Faculty, I.I.T.M., Delhi

Dr. THAMPOE MANAGALESWARAN

Faculty, Vavuniya Campus, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Dr. SHIVAKUMAR DEENE Faculty, Dept. of Commerce, School of Business Studies, Central University of Karnataka, Gulbarga

SURAJ GAUDEL

BBA Program Coordinator, LA GRANDEE International College, Simalchaur - 8, Pokhara, Nepal

FORMER TECHNICAL ADVISOR AMITA

FINANCIAL ADVISORS DICKEN GOYAL

Advocate & Tax Adviser, Panchkula

NEENA Investment Consultant, Chambaghat, Solan, Himachal Pradesh

LEGAL ADVISORS JITENDER S. CHAHAL

Advocate, Punjab & Haryana High Court, Chandigarh U.T.

CHANDER BHUSHAN SHARMA Advocate & Consultant, District Courts, Yamunanagar at Jagadhri

SUPERINTENDENT SURENDER KUMAR POONIA




vi

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BOOKS

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• Sharma T., Kwatra, G. (2008) Effectiveness of Social Advertising: A Study of Selected Campaigns, Corporate Social Responsibility, Edited

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• Garg, Sambhav (2011): "Business Ethics" Paper presented at the Annual International Conference for the All India Management Asso-

ciation, New Delhi, India, 19–23

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• Garg, Bhavet (2011): Towards a New Gas Policy, Political Weekly, Viewed on January 01, 2012 http://epw.in/user/viewabstract.jsp




74

AN ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING BY ZIMBABWEAN MEDICAL LABORATORIES IN HARARE

CHEZA ALEXANDER

FELLOW (MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENTIST)

AFRICAN SOCIETY FOR LABORATORY MEDICINE (ASLM)

KIRKOS SUBCITY

MATAMANDE WILSON

LECTURER

DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTANCY

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

HARARE

KAPESA TONDERAI

LECTURER

DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING & FINANCE

ZIMBABWE EZEKIEL GUTI UNIVERSITY

BINDURA

ABSTRACT

The study finds out that there is a largely high level of use of operational strategies, but this is not translating into usage of SMA practices medical laboratories in

Zimbabwe. SMA practices commonly used by medical laboratory institutions in Zimbabwe are: brand valuation; use of balanced score cards; activity based man-

agement; strategic costing and pricing; target costing; customer accounting; and benchmarking respectively. There are numerous factors with varied impact on

influencing the embracing of SMA practices by medical laboratories, these include lack of financial resources primarily and extending poor technologies, lack of

skills, and insufficient human resources. However, policy inconsistency and an unfavourable business environment rank weakly in influencing the adoption of SMA

practices. The study recommends the enhancement of operational strategies by using SMA practices because strategies not financially informed may lead busi-

nesses to pursuing strategies that lack economic viability and the medical laboratories should consider investing in systems that support adoption of SMA practices,

such investments as hiring qualified accountants as well as equipping their accounting staff with SMA skills.

KEYWORDS Zimbabwean medical laboratories, strategic management accounting, Harare.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF STUDY he major challenge faced by practitioners when practicing conventional management accounting is its affiliation with strategy. Thus, challenges for most

managers, consultants and management scholars, pertains to the proper alignment of entities’ functional activities and disciplines at the same time sup-

porting corporate strategy for the entity, specifically aligning the strategy and management accounting function. Extensively published criticisms of the

conventional management accounting practices during the 1980s and 1990s resulted in an increase of interest in strategic management accounting (SMA) as an

alternative or development of the conventional management accounting approaches by trying to give more strategic role to management accounting (Cadez &

Guilding, 2008).

Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) is defined as: the body of management accounting concerned with strategically orientated information for decision

making and control (Langfield-Smith, 2008). (Shah , et al., 2011) submits that the launch of SMA and its development by accounting scholars as a contemporary

discipline, which is envisioned as a flagship of the accounting profession, focusing on the evaluation of the business against their rivals/opponents (Simmonds,

1981), in order to enable management to have a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the competitors’ actions and business practices so that they make apposite decisions (Brom-

wich, 1990). Zimbabwe’s private for-profit health sector expanded between 1995 and 2007, with both local and foreign investors active, particularly through

mergers and acquisitions (Munyuki & Jasi, 2009). Additionally, the adoption of multiple currencies as legal tender which ended years of hyperinflation in 2009,

saw Zimbabwe developing into a centre of investment and business attraction for foreign investors in all sectors including health services (Marufu, et al., 2014) as

a result of the hard currency used which is more valuable and acceptable internationally. This escalated the competitive forces in Zimbabwe’s health sector

including medical laboratories. In addition to this there has always been indirect competition for Zimbabwean medical laboratories emanating from the forces of

globalization as South African medical laboratories have always been attracted to Zimbabwe because of the geographic proximity as well as their ability to offer

state of the art laboratory services, which have higher learning curves due to a lot of experience and higher technological exposure (Marufu, et al., 2014). This has

resulted in Zimbabwean medical laboratories facing stiff competition in the tough economic environment currently prevailing in Zimbabwe.

Since SMA helps in monitoring a business’ performance in the market using a variety of strategic variables over a decision horizon appropriately long for strategic

plans to come to fruition. Therefore, SMA supports those management accounting practices that are strategy focused, with a futuristic posture and exact outward

focus. As supported by (Juras, 2014), SMA relies on non-financial performance measures, such as the well-organized functioning of customer related and compet-

itor-related SMA practices depends on measures of a non-financial nature. On the other hand, conventional management accounting is generally mostly financial

orientated, thus more importance is given to historical financial assessment. Zimbabwe’s medical laboratory firms need to increase their profitability as well as

sustaining business growth when faced with such a challenging operating environment. They also endeavour to increase value for both clients and the firm through

improving the quality of their services. This therefore requires a blend of accurate conventional cost and management accounting practices and additional quali-

tative information obtained from using SMA. Therefore, the study endeavours to establish the most common SMA practices used by medical laboratories in

Zimbabwe specifically focusing on those operating in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Generally, accounting research has been able to prove the popularity of numerous SMA practices and the significance of management accountants in relation to

playing strategic roles. As outlined by McLellan & Moustafa (2011), the role of SMA in the manufacturing sector is indisputable since most entities depends on

SMA practices for coming up with winning competitive strategies. Contemporary business demands that management accountants not only provide strategic

information but they should be active in the strategic decision-making process (Bhimani and Kershtvarz, 2009). Nevertheless, understanding is minimal on the

T




75

modalities of how accountants contribute in strategic matters (Tillman and Goddard, 2008). In Zimbabwe there is lack of evidence of the prominent SMA practices

adopted by medical laboratory entities and the challenges encountered during the adoption of such if they have been adopted. However, the performance of

medical laboratories in Zimbabwe has been uninspiring, as shown by the modest contributions of medical laboratory divisions to the financial performance of

giants such as CIMAS. This represents a puzzle that the study attempts to address, particularly focusing on the common SMA practices adopted and how these

have affected the financial performance of medical laboratory institutions in Harare and furthermore establish if the financial performance of institutions using

SMA practices differ from those which do not.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objectives of the study are to:

1. Establish the extent of adoption of SMA by medical laboratories in Zimbabwe;

2. Categorise the commonly used SMA practices by Zimbabwean medical laboratories; and

3. Assess factors affecting use of SMA practices by medical laboratories in Zimbabwe.

LITERATURE REVIEW Scholars such as Boedker (2010) and Kreiner & Mouritsen (2003), outline that the relationship between management accounting and strategy is an extensively

researched matter. Accounting roles cab be divided into reflective or constitutive roles and there is a complicated relationship between these roles. Hopwood

(1983) outlines that the reflective role of accounting shows accountants’ reliance on the entities in which it is entrenched and on the other hand that the consti-

tutive role usually compels entities based on the opportunities and potentialities of the accounting expertise. Usually, the constitutive role forms perceptions of

both the limitations on planned actions and the desired outcomes (Hopwood 1983). Furthermore, Hopwood (1987) highlights that the roles of accounting continue

to be defined outside of the practice of the profession, with a number of other studies having focused on the analysis of the role of accounting as seen in the

enrichment of business performance. In essence accounting practices need to be viewed as being active progressively in producing rather than simply allowing

organised enterprise (Hopwood, 1987). Usually, conventional research views accounting as having a subordinate role aimed at ensuring the precise execution of

set objectives (Boedker, 2010).

Theoretically the study adopts the Institutional theory notwithstanding the presence numerous other theories dealing with change and these include the structu-

ration theory and the radical theories. The Institutional theory, as propounded by Scapens (1994) and further refined by Burns & Scapens (2000), defines the

nature of rules, routines and institutions within organisations. The management accounting practices can either shape or be shaped by the organisations which

direct activities in the entities. Naturally, entities create and replicate established ways of doing business and acting. Accordingly, the institutional perspective is

an appropriate model to focus on rules, practices and routines, dealing with institutional character in organisations is known. The study is concerned with processes

across organisations such as the application of management accounting practices, and therefore adoption of the institutional perspective. The management ac-

counting practices are inevitably entwined with managerialism systems of philosophy.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING (SMA) PRACTICES AND THEIR USE Lee and Park (2006) postulates that efficacious decisions by management must improve the ultimate performance of the entities involved. Since accounting is

essential to management, and specifically the use of strategic management accounting for the enhancement of management decisions for general performance

of business (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). Therefore, a key view guiding the study, is that enterprises which carefully use suitable strategic management accounting

practices should yield more effective decision-making resulting in to healthier performance. The strategic management accounting basis as outlined by Simmonds,

(1981), which was later rearticulated as accounting for strategic positioning by Roslender, (1996) is based on the reason that a better market-focused and strate-

gically tailor-made accounting is imperative for business welfare (Langfield-Smith, 2008). The role of strategy is dynamic because managers constantly evaluate

blends of several contingency factors (Chenhall, 2003). Thus, there are defender and harvest orientated strategies as well as those strategies meant to attain cost

leadership or those linked to recognised performance measurement systems such as objective budget performance targets.

In the 1990s the notion of strategic management accounting (SMA) and contingency studies developed, assuming that the SMA existed as part of management

accounting practices applicable in the strategic purposes. However, Roslender & Hart (2003) submits that SMA can be clearly understood as a common method to

account for strategic positioning of entities. By definition it is an effort to put together views from management accountants and marketing managers in a strategic

management context. Therefore, SMA can generally be defined as the use of management accounting systems to enhance strategic decision making. Most research

in SMA is focused on the accounting practices used in various circumstances (Tillman & Goddard, 2008). Numerous studies on SMA practices have been done by

such scholars as Carr & Tomkins (1998) and Guilding et al. (2000). Guilding et al. (2000) acknowledged twelve variations of strategic management accounting

practices which include: strategic costing; attribute costing; target costing; brand value budgeting and monitoring; lifecycle costing; competitor cost assessment;

competitive position monitoring; competitor appraisal based on published financial statements; quality costing; strategic pricing and value chain costing. Such

studies found competitor accounting and strategic pricing as the commonly used practices, whilst Tillman & Goddard, (2008) on the other hand advocate that the

SMA is not broadly known in businesses, and as a result the meaning of the concept is not understood by most managers.

A number of empirical studies have been done across the globe assessing the adoption of various SMA practices, such studies include Cinquini & Tenucci (2006)

who studied big Italian companies and the following 14 SMA practices were ranked in their descending order of use: 1) Attribute Costing, 2) Customer Accounting,

3) Strategic Pricing, 4) Competitive position monitoring, 5) Competitor performance appraisal based on published financial statements, 6) Strategic Costing, 7)

Quality Costing, 8) Competitor cost assessment, 9) Target Costing, 10) Benchmarking, 11) Value Chain Costing, 12) ABC/M, 13) Integrated performance measure-

ment, and 14) Life Cycle Costing). From the above SMA practices’ use by Italian big companies the first seven had mean scores above whilst the las seven had

mean scores less than 3. In another study by Al-Khadash & Feridun (2006) assessing the level of adoption of ABC, JIT and TQM as strategic initiatives by Jordanian

industrial companies found that mainly listed entities used such practices, and moreover, there was more cognizance of these practices by their financial managers.

However, on the contrary the same study suggested an inverse relationship between awareness level and the level of adoption of the practices. In another study

conducted in Croatia by Ramljak and Rogošić (2012) with a population of 400 big firms, detected various frequencies of usage of certain strategic management

accounting practices: ABC had a 40% frequency; Quality costing had 39, 4% usage frequency; Target costing had 25.8% frequency of usage by these companies;

the balanced scorecard had a 15.2% frequency; and on the lower end of usage was life cycle costing with a 9.1% frequency and environmental costing with a 6.1%

frequency. The study concluded that using two or more SMA practices have a positive effect on cost control and reduction improvement.

The last empirical study reviewed conducted by Abdul-Hussien and Hamza (2012) with 20 respondents selected from four Romanian companies as the sample,

was meant to test the significance of four SMA concepts and the following results were obtained: Continuous Improvements (mean score was 3.73); Value Chain

Analysis (mean score of 3.64 was realised); ABC (mean score of 3.50); and, Balanced Scorecards (with 3.25 as mean score). Based on these findings the study

further specified constraints and challenges cited by respondents in applying SMA practices, with the most prevalent limitation being the prohibitive costs related

using these approaches in comparison with traditional approaches. On the other hand, the same study also found numerous benefits for Romanian companies

after their use of SMA practices. Indisputably, over the years there has been increasing interest in SMA as evidenced by the number of studies which include:

Roslender & Hart, (2003); Cadez & Guilding, (2008); Bhimani & Langfield-Smith, (2007); as well as Langfield-Smith, (2008). On the contrary in the numerous studies

there is still no consensus as to what makes up SMA (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). It is the result of the view that SMA is widely unknown that the current study

interrogates the use of SMA practices by medical laboratory companies in Harare Zimbabwe.




76

METHODOLOGY This section focuses on the research methodology used particularly highlighting the research design, population under study, and sampling methods used in the

collection of data.

RESEARCH DESIGN Terell (2012) views a research design as the outline which shows the suitable way to conduct a given study. Cooper and Schindler, (2014:126) outline numerous

research designs available to choose from including: descriptive, causal explanatory, causal predictive, exploratory, experimental, ex-post facto, cross-sectional

and longitudinal designs. The study used a descriptive design, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods to effectively address the objectives of the

study, thus a mixed approach. Using the descriptive research design is based on Leedy, & Omrod, (2010), who submits that a descriptive study is designed to obtain

facts on the status quo and describes or explains the condition of the variables as they are in a given situation. The study describes the state of adoption of strategic

management accounting practices by Zimbabwean medical laboratory companies operating in Harare.

POPULATION AND SAMPLE SIZE The target population for the study is 25 medical laboratories with operations in the Harare Metropolitan Province, made up of 15 small institutions, 7 medium

sized and 3 big institutions. To select a sample of the 9 laboratories used in the study stratified random selection was used in order to ensure fair representation

of views from the respondents. The study selected 3 laboratories from each size/category so that all big laboratories were used and from the small and medium 3

institutions were selected randomly. In order to select respondents from the chosen laboratories purposive sampling was used with only respondents responsible

for the management accounting functions of the institutions being selected, whose total number was 36 with 4 representing each medical laboratory selected for

the study.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES AND INSTRUMENTS For gathering primary data, the study used questionnaires administered by the researchers and face-to-face interviews were used to collect data from directors

and senior managers of the 9 medical laboratories. For the purpose of triangulation secondary was also collected from strategy documents of the various labora-

tories. Prior to collection of data, the instruments were pilot tested in order to improve validity and reliability of the data collected. The analysis and presentation

of data was enhanced by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), which is appropriate for the analysis of data with uniform responses, since

questionnaires predominantly had closed-ended questions with likert scaled responses.

FINDINGS AND RESULTS The sample for the study was made up of 36 individual selected from 9 medical laboratories. 27 questionnaires were distributed and 9 interviews scheduled.

Response rate for the questionnaires was 88.9% since 24 questionnaires were returned valid whilst for the interviews 7 were successfully conducted resulting in

a 77.8% success rate. The overall response rate was 88.9%. The demographic information of participants in the study is shown in table 1 below:

TABLE 1: DEMOGRAPHICS OF RESPONDENTS

Gender Male Female

21 10

Age ≤ 30 yrs ≤ 40 yrs ≤ 50 yrs > 50 yrs

1 14 11 5

Education Degree Diploma Certificate Other

21 6 1 3

Presented in table 1 above are the key demographic features, of note being the fact that the majority respondents were males with a modal age between 31 and

40 whilst holding university degrees as qualifications.

USE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING PRACTICES Responses were obtained for a closed-ended question meant to obtain information on the status of the use of strategic management in generally and then SMA

specifically. On the use of strategies in general 93.5% (29) of respondents indicated their institutions made use of operational strategies. Results for the use of

SMA practices are shown in figure 1 below:

FIGURE 1: USE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING PRACTICES

Figure 1 shows that 58% of respondents indicated use of strategic management accounting practices in their institutions whilst 42% indicated no use. It is clear

that medical laboratories in Harare use more of operational strategies than SMA. These findings concurred with other scholars such as Al-Khadash & Feridun

(2006) who assessing the level of adoption of ABC, JIT and TQM by Jordanian industrial companies and found that mainly listed entities used such practices. Thus,

findings from the study showed that mainly large and medium sized laboratories use SMA practices, with an adoption rate of 58%.




77

TABLE 2: OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES * SMA CROSS TABULATION

Use of Strategic Management Accounting Total

Yes No

Use of Operational Strategies Yes 16 13 29

No 2 0 2

Total 18 13 31

As shown 16 respondents indicated the use of both operational strategies and SMA in their institutions.

COMMONLY USED SMA PRACTICES In order to establish the commonly used SMA practices by medical laboratories, questions requesting respondents the frequency they use numerous SMA practices

was asked and the responses obtained are shown hereunder. For the purposes of data analysis, the variables were allocated likert scales of 3 for ‘yes, always’, 2

for ‘sometimes’ and 1 for ‘never’. The descriptive statistics for these findings are shown in table 3 below:

TABLE 3: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR VARIOUS SMA PRACTICES

N MINIMUM MAXIMUM MEAN STD. DEVIATION

Brand valuation 31 1.00 3.00 2.5161 0.67680

Use of balanced scorecards 31 1.00 3.00 2.3226 0.79108

Activity based management 31 1.00 3.00 2.0968 0.70023

Strategic costing and pricing 31 1.00 3.00 1.8065 0.79244

Target costing 31 1.00 3.00 1.6774 0.59928

Customer accounting 31 1.00 3.00 1.6129 0.55842

Benchmarking 31 1.00 3.00 1.5806 0.76482

Quality costing 31 1.00 2.00 1.5484 0.50588

Competitor assessment 31 1.00 3.00 1.3871 0.61522

Valid n 31

Table 3 shows that the most predominantly used SMA practice was brand valuation with the highest mean of 2.5161, implying that respondents indicated that

the medical laboratories almost always use brand valuation strategically. The least used was competitor assessment with mean of 1.3871 and the standard devi-

ations are almost similar for all practices. These findings were further explained by the interviewees who indicated that most medical laboratories were run by

scientists and therefore they preferred more scientific practices such as brand valuation and using balanced scorecards. The use of brand valuation as an accounting

practice has been subjected to extensive deliberation. However, from the management accounting view of brand valuation, its prospective value in determining

marketing successes for well branded companies is apparent (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). It must be noted that interviewees indicated brand valuation as a highly

scientific and complicated practice requiring technical aptitude, which however, was regarded easy by laboratory scientists who were responsible for the account-

ing functions in their entities.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE ADOPTION OF SMA BY MEDICAL LABORATORIES After identifying the commonly used SMA practices the study went on to assess the factors which affect the use of SMA practices by medical laboratories in Harare,

closed-ended question suggesting possible factors and the strength of their effects and responses obtained are shown in figure 2 below:

FIGURE 2: FACTORS AFFECTING ADOPTION OF SMA PRACTICES

Figure 2, shows a total of 7 factors which were suggested to the respondents and responses on their effects towards the adoption of SMA practices by the various

medical laboratories are shown above. One of the SMA practices identified as being less frequently used by the study is competitor assessment which involves

information about competitors and responses show that only 9% indicated it had low effect whilst 38% indicated mild effect and 53% indicated a strong effect.

Interviewees also supported this view by citing the challenges in Zimbabwe in engaging in competitive benchmarking as most businesses are too secretive. Other

factors highlighted as having a strong effect on the adoption of SMA by the medical laboratories are: the lack of required skills (50%), inadequate financial resources

(47%) and insufficient human resources (44%). Interviews further explained that the rest of challenges were attached to financial resources limitations since hiring

of qualified personnel requires financial resources or the training of current staff also require finances. Findings concur with Boedker (2010), on the effects of

financial challenges on the implementation of strategies, the economic situation is contributing towards the levels of adoption of the various SMA practices. On

the contrary, Baxter & Chua (2003), argue that poor investment in SMA systems and practices exposes business to competitive challenges resulting in their inability

to realise their desired strategies. Technological changes and unfavourable business environments were regarded as having mild effect on the implementation of

various SMA practices.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Findings presented and analysed above which are based on data from the research led to the following conclusions:

� There is a largely high level of use of operational strategies, but this is not translating into usage of SMA practices medical laboratories in Zimbabwe.




78

� SMA practices commonly used by medical laboratory institutions in Zimbabwe are: brand valuation; use of balanced score cards; activity based management;

strategic costing and pricing; target costing; customer accounting; and benchmarking respectively.

� There are numerous factors with varied impact on influencing the embracing of SMA practices by medical laboratories, these include lack of financial re-

sources primarily and extending poor technologies, lack of skills, and insufficient human resources. However, policy inconsistency and an unfavourable busi-

ness environment rank weakly in influencing the adoption of SMA practices.

Based on the conclusions outlined above, the study recommends:

� The enhancement of operational strategies by using SMA practices because strategies not financially informed may lead businesses to pursuing strategies

that lack economic viability.

� Medical laboratories should consider investing in systems that support adoption of SMA practices, such investments as hiring qualified accountants as well

as equipping their accounting staff with SMA skills.

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VOLUME NO 7 ISSUE NO 09 (S EPTEMBER ISSN 2231-5756